HR director reports on insurance for flood at Sterling City Council meeting

Application for FEMA relief submitted

STERLING — Human Resources Director Bob Brown was on the agenda to give the department head report to the Sterling City Council Tuesday night.

But rather than talk about human resources, Brown told the council he wanted to give an update on the city's insurance claims from damage in the September flood.

Brown spoke about the damage at the Overland Trail Recreation Area, which includes the fishing pond, bathroom, pedestrial bridges and roadway; the Overland Trail Museum, where new heaters and air conditioners are needed, artifacts are being evaluated for restoration and several buildings had 3 to 5 feet of water; and the headworks facility for the waste water treatment system. Damage to that site is still under evaluation.

Brown mentioned that in addition to the city's regular policy with the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA), they also have excess coverage for claims of more than $100,000.

"I can't even begin to put a dollar amount on the damage," he said.

Besides the insurance coverage, Brown noted that city officials had attended a public assistance briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier that day and gathered paperwork for applying for federal assistance with losses.

City Manager Joe Kiolbasa added that the application had been submitted, and they were told there would be a kickoff meeting within seven days to discuss the next steps for the city. Kiolbasa said the city has 60 days from applying to come up with figures on the damages.

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Although timely, the council's action on an ordinance related to flood prevention and protection was not directly related to the September flood. Mayor Heather Brungardt noted that work on the matter had begun "months and months and months" before.

The ordinance puts in place new regulations for floodplain management that "adhere to the minimum standards of both the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the state of Colorado," according to the narrative.

The ordinance replaces the entire existing Chapter 8 of the city code with new regulations as required in order for FEMA to make flood insurance coverage available within the community.

One of the changes, Kiolbasa said, is the requirement that new construction be elevated one foot above the 100-year "base" floodplain. The city also has to identify facilities that are "critical," and what needs to be done to protect those sites from flooding.

Action on an employment agreement with Jay Brammer to serve as municipal judge was tabled until the end of the meeting, when the council met in executive session for about a half hour to discuss the contract. Upon their return to regular session, they voted unanimously to approve the contract with an amendment of a 3 percent increase in annual salary, raising the pay from $30,450 to $31,363.50.

In other business:

• Kiolbasa gave an update on the Luft House. He found that the building could only be covered by their insurance policy if the city operated the facility. He told the council action of some sort is needed this month, and suggested that perhaps the city could lease the building until more details could be worked out.

• The council advised Kiolbasa to move forward on a proposal from Northeast Colorado Broadcasting for a holiday advertising campaign to promote shopping locally. The proposal would include 45 ads on four stations — KPMX, KSIR, B106 and 94.5 The Ranch — per month for three months, November-January, as well as a one-hour live remote broadcast, at a cost of $835 per month.

• City Attorney Curt Penney gave an update on the lease agreement with Union Pacific for property along Front Street. At the last council meeting, the Citizens Advisory Board, which handles beautification projects funded by the city's lodging tax, had asked that the city seek a longer-term lease before they moved forward on a project on that site. Penney said the railroad's proposal remained a year-to-year lease, and CAB member Kim Sellers said the board is looking at changing the project to more of a "softscape" that would require less of a capital investment than the permanent structure that was originally planned.

• Kiolbasa told the council that he was working on final negotiations for a water treatment facility operator before presenting the contract to the council. He said current employees would all be offered positions by the operator. Brungardt said she felt that when the city advertised the position earlier this year, the wage offered was too low, and if it was more competitive, they might have gotten some qualified applicants. The council agreed to hear the proposal so they could get more information before making a decision whether to contract with an operator or raise the wage for a city position.

• At Kiolbasa's request, the council set a work session for 6 p.m. Oct. 29 to discuss their goals and projects list, and beautification in particular. They also plan to work on the letter sent to non-profit organizations that have sought city contributions for the next budget cycle.

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